Tango
by Ziirroh
Summary: A wager between bosses pits the Malachite sisters against an unfamiliar adversary. Neither would have thought that defeat could still result in having fun. Prompt suggested by K-B Super Scythe.


Music blared from the speakers as bodies pressed close together. The crowd undulated to the beat lost in the hypnotic trance.

The Malachite twins were lounging at the bar, staying near the club's owner who was currently serving drinks from behind the counter. They were rather bored, considering nothing exciting had happened in the past few days. However a familiar guest approached the bar along with another not so familiar face following close behind them.

"Junior! How are ya? Doing well I hope." Roman Torchwick greeted with cheer.

The twins watched as Hei grimaced at the man, not even bothering to appear professional towards him. If what the twins heard was right, Torchwick had managed to get some of Hei's goons arrested the last time he lent their labor to the man. To say the least, Hei wasn't too pleased to see him again.

"Aw, c'mon now. Why the look? Don't you miss me?" Roman drawled as he leaned against the bar. His companion, a short woman who had uniquely mismatched pink and brown eyes, sat on a stool beside him. Her hair was also brown on one side and pink with a few white streaks throughout. She looked at the twins with a smile as she took a seat on a bar stool near them.

"What are you doing here again? I thought I told you I wasn't doing business with you anymore." Hei said gruffly.

Roman raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Whoa there pal. It's not my fault that some weird kid decided to show up and wiped the floor with them. Besides, your lackeys' incompetence is what got them caught." He said smugly.

"Why you-"

The twins decided to tune out the rest of their conversation, already aware that it was headed to a lengthy and dull debate.

Miltiades leaned against her sister, releasing a tired sigh.

"Melanie it's so boring." She said with a whine.

Melanie hummed absently as she patted her sister's head.

"The last time we actually had fun was when that dragon girl came in here, even if she kicked our butts." She said, earning only another hum.

"Let's go dance or something." She said impatiently and started to pull on Melanie's arm.

Melanie paid no mind and hummed again. It was true that despite that girl wiping the floor with them it was better than just sitting around the club all day doing mostly nothing, also dancing sounded nice. They hadn't had time to dance just for fun, despite the fact they were always in a club.

"We're here to work, not play. That's how a job is." Was Melanie's automatic response instead.

Miltiades let go and pouted at her sister, knowing full well she wasn't telling the truth. Turning around she blew a raspberry at her.

"I just want something to happen, I don't even care if the club blows up again. Something's better than nothing." She replied.

"Yeah, and no club means no work. So I think not." Melanie said as she playfully flicked at her pouty sister's forehead.

Miltiades rubbed the sore spot about to say more when the raised voices of the two men caught their attention once more.

"How about we settle this with a wager then? Your girls against mine, the winner takes the spoils." Roman said haughtily, as if he was certain to win.

Hei didn't answer straight away, instead he looked over to the twins, his eyes seeking permission from them.

This was one of the things they could respect about the man. Hei may be a shady character working in the illegal underground networks, but he was a man of honor. It's what made him a desirable source of information and other needs, and why he had so many clients that trusted him.

Melanie could practically feel the eagerness wafting off of her sister as she considered the challenge. She glanced at the other woman, who had been silent the entire time judging her competition. The twins gave a curt nod to him and Hei then returned his attention to Roman.

"Fine then. I'll have to clear out the dance floor first, just…don't destroy my establishment." He said brusquely.

Roman chuckled, nodding his head in agreement as they waited for all patrons to leave. It didn't take long to usher the disappointed customers out and turn off the music. Some folks even stuck around to watch.

"Alright ladies, go do your thing." Roman flourished with a bow towards the dance floor.

The twins huffed in response, walking over with the shorter woman trailing behind.

They positioned themselves on the floor, the twins staring down their opponent across from them. She was always smiling that it made her appear sweet, but Melanie was sure that there was more to this girl than meets the eye. After all, Torchwick seemed quite confident pitting her against two opponents so some trick was at play here.

"Stay on your guard Militia." She whispered.

Militia readied her claws, brandishing them at her sides as she took a defensive stance.

"Don't worry sis, we got this." She replied confidently.

Melanie only wished she had her sister's confidence, she was feeling unnerved by the strange woman's ever present smile.

Both twins ready they waited on their opponent, only the low murmurs of the onlookers in the background being heard as all three girls stared each other down.

With the slightest of hand motions Militia dashed forward at Melanie's signal. Right as she was in front of the girl, who remained immobile the whole time, she struck out and landed a hit.

Except the short woman shattered into multiple shards of glass.

The twins were stunned at the display, Militia whisking her head about trying to find her. Melanie only saw a blur of pink and white going towards her sister as she called out in a panic.

"Watch out!"

Militia took no time to dilly-dally, trusting her sister's sudden call completely,9 she back flipped towards her right when a rod struck out at her previous spot. Melanie was relieved at seeing her sister return to her side, but she kept her gaze on the woman.

She was holding an umbrella, a decorative piece that seemed far too delicate to be a weapon, but that could be the only thing it was since she used it to strike out.

"Nice show Neo." Roman praised her, clapping on the sidelines.

The woman smiled, standing up straight and holding the umbrella to her side.

Melanie wasn't sure how things were going to go with an adversary like this, but from the grin on her sister's face and the one she felt on her own, she knew that this was going to be fun no matter what.

This time Militia whistled, a sound that rang high, and both girls moved in unison to strike out. This time Neo didn't shatter away, instead she dodged their strikes with ease. Melanie felt somewhat irked at how well Neo was maneuvering around their hits, but there was a certain thrill that accompanied every miss. It was the expectation of earning their merit, of being able to finally land a hit that seemed so promising despite all their near misses.

As Melanie's heel almost connected with Neo she raised her umbrella and unfurled it. The force of the extension shoving her backwards and enabling Neo to focus on Militia. Recovering from her stumble she heard the telltale shout from Militia, followed shortly by a thud, and it made Melanie realize Neo landed a hit.

Somehow Neo managed to knock Militia a considerable distance across the dance floor, slamming her against the tall podium where the DJ's stand was. Somehow the force of her hit was enough to start up the music, and a techno-rave beat began to play.

Melanie circled around Neo while her opponent was watching her curiously with her head tilted to one side. Melanie paused, scrutinizing her while her sister recovered from her fall. This time Neo acted first, approaching Melanie calmly as she walked up to her. The girl tensed, ready to defend against any sudden strike, but Neo only stood before her, silent and still smiling.

Then without a moment's notice Neo thrust out her umbrella. Melanie skipped backwards but it was not quick enough. The slight impact of the hilt sent her skittering a few paces away before she was able to move in and aim a kick at Neo.

The two were locked in a battle that gave no leeway for the other; Melanie a flurry of kicks and Neo parrying each one with ease. It was in that moment that Melanie began to laugh, actually laugh in enjoyment as the two slid across the dance floor in their never ending stream of attacks.

Hearing a low whistle amidst the beat of the music, Melanie struck out one last time and sidestepped out of the way for her sister to take over. She needed the break anyway as her legs were becoming weak from overexertion, besides Militia needed to have some fun too and judging by the smile on her face it seemed she was having just that.

Eventually Neo shattered to pieces once more as Militia connected with her illusion, and their attention was taken to where Roman was clapping enthusiastically. Neo was seated in the bar stool near him, looking as if she hadn't been fighting them the entire time.

"Bravo ladies! You two aren't as shabby as I thought, but unfortunately you lost." Roman smirked cruelly.

"Now wait a minute Roman!" Hei shouted. "They're still standing, they haven't lost."

Roman waggled a finger at him, tsking at his behavior.

"Now, now Junior. Sorry to say to crack your shell but Neo did manage to get a single hit on them, where they landed none on her. Besides that she went easy on them. I guess she took a liking to your two girls here. Isn't that right Neo?" Roman said looking at the woman.

Neo only looked towards the exhausted twins and smiled, and the two girls weren't sure if having her favor was a good thing or not.

Hei grumbled unintelligibly before reluctantly agreeing to employ a few of his men over to Roman.

"There you go. That wasn't so hard now was it?" Roman said with a chuckle. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have some other matters to attend to."

Roman waved behind him as he proceeded to the exit with Neo trailing after him.

The twins stood by and watched as they passed, Neo looking over to them one last time and giving them a wink.

Melanie wasn't sure if it was normal to feel flustered by the action. She was sure she wasn't the only one to feel that way when she heard Militia let out a strangled noise as she clumsily covered her face.

The pair made it to the doors before Torchwick turned around one last time to address them.

"I'll be back soon Junior, be a good boy while I'm gone. That goes for you girls as well. Behave and Neo may come by with me next time." Chuckling he finally left.

The twins moved to sit at the bar while business continued on as usual. Hei had a tired look on his face and when they tried to apologize for failing he shook his head and halted them.

"Don't worry about it girls, that man is sneaky and I'm not surprised that he has people that overpower you. No offense." He said.

Melanie nodded in understanding and they relaxed against the bar. The twins were glad they got to do something exciting at least. Then they both realized something, only needing to look at each other to pass the thought through.

Militia giggled at the prospect while Melanie shook her head in disbelief and smiled.

They had wanted to dance, and they did. After all, Neo had been their partner.


End file.
